Memphis gets a bad reputation from news sources that choose to amplify every crime and violent incident, no matter how trivial. The actual culture of the city in the various neighborhoods and communities is quite different. While a visit to Beale Street might convince tourists that Memphis has no blues culture to speak of, more traditional music and events occur out in the city, far from downtown and the hotels.
Castalia, a neighborhood west of Airways and south of South Parkway is an area with a significant blues past. This was the location of Green’s Lounge, at 2090 East Person Avenue, a legendary venue where the blues band The Fieldstones, and later Will Roy Sanders as a solo artist, performed. Green’s Lounge later burned and was never rebuilt, but other neighborhood bars like C & J Bar-B-Que and The Black Hut regularly featured blues DJs, if not live music. But neighborhood decline and violence have taken their toll. All the clubs have closed, and Castalia’s most prominent feature is a memorial wall to slain Memphis rapper Young Dolph.
All the same, in July, Big Don Valentine’s band, the Hollywood All-Stars was called to play a Castalia yard party, held in memory of a blues fan called “Country Girl” who had died three years ago. The weather was scorching, but we set up on a plywood stage in a spacious backyard where the garage had been turned into a place for the food cooking and serving. A small crowd had gathered at first, but as the sun went down, the numbers quickly grew.
Due to the heat, the band did not begin playing until shortly after 7 PM, when the sun sank below the house next door. Guests tapped their feet, nodded their heads and danced, and during the break between sets had a balloon release in honor of their friend. It was a night of great food, fun and blues, unmarred by any cross word, argument or dispute.